Publication: Assessing Bias in Smartphone Mobility Estimates in Low Income Countries
Files in English
162 downloads
Date
2021-06-28
ISSN
Published
2021-06-28
Author(s)
Milusheva, Sveta
Björkegren, Daniel
Viotti, Leonardo
Abstract
It has become common for governments and practitioners to measure mobility using data from smartphones, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet in countries where few people have smartphones, or use mobile internet, the movement of smartphones may not be a good indicator of the movement of the population. This paper develops a framework for approaching potential bias that can arise when measuring mobility with smartphones. Using mobile phone operator records in Uganda, we compare the mobility of smartphones and the basic and feature phones that are more common. Smartphones have different travel patterns, and decrease mobility substantially more in response to a COVID-19 lockdown. This suggests caution when interpreting smartphone mobility estimates in contexts with low adoption.
Link to Data Set
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Associated URLs
Associated content
Citations
-
Cited 3 times in Scopus (View citations)